A Relationship Well Meddled
by XxEJMxX
Summary: She saw him every day, and hoped he would smile. Just a turn of the lips. And Dumbledore, well he's always got something up his sleeve. *oneshot* *FemHarry* *AU* Fluffy!


There were many days when she would look up into the windows of the castle, and hope she saw him smiling. She didn't have very much contact with him... ever... The garden of Hogwarts was where she was meant to stay.

But seeing his regal profile from the window of the castle put a block in her chest. She couldn't help but dig her fingers tighter into the soil the geraniums were being planted in. The soil loosely tried to keep her dirtied little hands from shooting up to wave at the dark, brooding man in the window.

Some days he would just stare down at her, but some days she could swear the corner of his mouth would twitch a bit; but a smile was what she wanted...a smile to show how happiness would erase the hardships from his face.

Hogwarts was a castle owned and operated by Sir Albus Dumbledore; a do-gooder who always tried to put his nose in places it did not belong. Dumbledore opened the castle as a boarding school from September to April to teach promising young men the ways of business and such.

Jamison wasn't allowed to attend per-say, but Albus kept her stocked with books and instruments in the hope that "One day, women will have equal footing". She liked the second half of his speech a little better, "Until then, I will have a gorgeous little Lily-flower in my garden, tending to my plants and soaking up my knowledge" Then he would smile benevolently and give her another text book. Jamison was a bit torn on Albus Dumbledore; she did not know whether to be grateful to him, or to be wary of him.

But the man in the window, Severus Snape (sometimes joined by Sirius Black, who was a gorgeous man himself), was someone she was sure she liked... Sometimes, whenever he came to her garden to get her plants for his tonics, he even asked her help. She would wipe her palms on her apron, straighten her skirts, and try not to smile too largely.

Her hair was almost constantly a curly, shiny, black mass messily braided or thrown haphazardly into a coif. She always wore skirts in warm colors, while her shirts always ended up dirty, so she hardly bothered...a lace-up, corset like top and fluffed sleeves withheld her modesty while she wrestled flowers and vegetables into holes in the soil, hefted pruning shears to her topiaries and roses, and pulled weeds and roots from the garden.

That afternoon, as Albus Dumbledore started across the grounds towards her, and the pale, aristocratic man withdrew from the window, she sighed a little to herself.

She did not blame Severus for withdrawing, but the absence of his countenance in the window made her a bit more snappish to Albus.

"Jamison" He smiled warmly and she warmed a bit,

"Yes Mr. Dumbledore?"

"I told you, call me Albus dear girl" she pretended to look mildly shamed before smiling, and amending,

"Yes Albus?"

"We are having an Yule ball as an opener for the Tri-School Boy's Olympic Games, as I'm sure you know since you're nurturing the trees and poinsettias, and I wish for all of my staff to be present" As Jamison looked into his eyes, sparkling with a deed well meddled, she blanched a little.

"And by all staff, you mean...?"

"You as well my dear. I think of you as a daughter, ever since my godson, James left you to me in his dying will and testament. I wish nothing but happiness for you, and this ball will be a great way to... achieve... it" Jamison pretended not to catch the reference he was putting out. He just _wanted _her to ask, and she didn't plan on being a part of any of his "Get happy quick" schemes.

"I'll send miss Minnie down to see you later my dear" Dumbledore smiled seeing the hard set to the corners of Jamison's mouth.

"If I may ask, why sir?" He smiled, as if she had asked him the weather

"She has one of your mother's old ball gowns, and needs to make arrangements to have it altered if necessary" She smiled and accepted the answer, thinking he would forget about it in due time.

But later that afternoon as one of the stern teachers knocked on her door with a smile and a garment bag, she remembered to never doubt his memory again.

* * *

><p>It seemed no matter how many times she twirled on the arms of seventh years probably too young for her; he wouldn't get tired of watching her face light with happiness. Lily's dress fit her perfect. Much more perfect than her gardening attire. The emerald silk bodice encased her curvature, the slight puff to the sleeves bringing out the tanned cream of her arms. The neckline highlighted the delicate ridges of her collar bones. The bodice of the dress had golden embroidering and fit tight to her waistline before puffing out dramatically, rather like some sugared dessert Albus liked. Her hair was pulled up, not twisted and complicated, but a simple chignon. Her eyes, exactly like her mother's, were set off by the dress and contrasted nicely with her hair.<p>

So lost in his exploration of her face and features, he couldn't help how his eyes widened when Sirius nudged past him, winking, and heading towards her. Severus was stock-still, trying to will himself to move against Black's actions, but it was too late to interfere he could tell... Sirius was already smiling doggishly and she was already releasing a trilling, melodic laugh. Severus stared at the pair until they both looked at him, Black waving him over and Jamison smiling brightly. He forced his feet to glide as easily as always, but he felt the smallest snag in the flagstone flooring would bring him tumbling across the decorated dining hall.  
>"Severus, this is Mrs. Jamison Potter, as I'm sure you know. We knew her parents, didn't we?" Sirius guided, throwing knowing glances between the two of them. Jamison's cheeks had a new tint of rouge to them and her eyes were locked onto Severus'.<br>"Yes, yes we did" He says, but it comes out as more of a whisper than the answer he intended it to be. Soon the orchestra strikes up again, and Sirius encourages them to take hands, her smaller, calloused hands fitting perfectly in his larger, just as rough digits. Perfect fit, he would say later. Everything about them fit perfectly.

Severus knew she was intelligent, she was her mother's daughter alright, but Severus had no idea as to the extent of the knowledge that Albus had been feeding her.

"What was my mum like?" She asked quietly, still looking up a good few inches to meet his height. He scanned her face once more. Noting the slight button shape to her nose that was Lily and not James, her eyebrows sloped like her father's, and the hidden intelligence in the emerald of her eyes that was a mixture of the two.

"She was quiet and bookish, but she loved nature. She was very compassionate and outspoken when something she cared for was in question... She was brilliant and very witty." Jamison nodded and smiled; he felt her question was more of a conversation excuse than anything else.  
>Jamison loved the sound of his voice. Velvet and commanding and soft spoken and smooth. She could listen to him lecture all day long, if just to hear his voice. His hair was tied back by a black bow, holding the long onyx locks from tumbling into his face. His broad shoulders were incased in the teaching robes mandatory to this school. The normally fully buttoned fine cotton hung open, revealing slacks and midnight blue silk shirt. She had never been educated in the ways of a man, but she would let him educate her from dusk till dawn.<p>

She blushed a little more at her thoughts and he smiled in an embarrassed manner and looked down.  
>"You look beautiful tonight," He said, it had spilled out, but seeing the smile on her face he couldn't bring himself to wish he could take it back. Her eyes lit and she leaned in just a little closer to whisper,<p>

"Well, I think you're handsome Severus" He was a bit shocked for a moment; the only person who'd even lavished such a comment on him was Sirius. He allowed a blush to overtake his ears while he looked away slightly.  
>"Will you smile?" she asked, a tone of playfulness in her slightly throaty voice, he looked back at her, eyes intense, a question on his face.<br>"I just... I see you everyday in the window... and everyday, I wish I could see you smile" She says, slowly, endearingly. He looked down upon her, her face a bit downcast at her previous statements. Without his mind's consent he raised her chin with a finger, their bodies still swirling with the tempo of a concerto.  
>"If it pleases you madam, I'll do anything," he said, and as he looked down at her, her cheeks a bit red from dancing, her eyes lit from the time in his arms,<p>

He smiled.

She smiled back.

Then he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.  
>And from his corner, Albus Dumbledore smirked at a relationship well meddled.<p> 


End file.
